स्वरानंद - मदन मोहन कोहली

 

Madan Mohan Kohli

Born on 25^th June, 1924, at Erbil, (Iraqi Kurdistan), where his father Rai Bahadur Chunilal was working, Madan Mohan spent the first five years of his life in the Middle East. After 1932, the family returned to Chakwal, in Jhelum district of Punjab. They were left in the care of a grandparent while Chunnilal went to Mumbai to seek business opportunities. He subsequently became a partner in the Bombay Talkies studio and then in the Filmistan studio.

Madan Mohan  inherited his talent for music from his mother, who was a poet and a great admirer of music. Madan became acquainted with some children of film personalities. These 'children' were Raj Kapoor, Nargis and Suraiya.

At the behest of his father, he attended the Colonel Brown Cambridge School and joined the army and received his first commission in 1943. Though as history would have it, he quit the armed forces and turned to his first love—music. He joined All India Radio in Lucknow, where he brushed shoulders with such ghazal and classical luminaries as Ustad Faiyyaz Khan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Begum Akhtar, and Talat Mahmood. He picked up their influences and carried them with him to Mumbai when he entered the Hindi Film industry. 

After assisting S.D. Burman and Shyam Sunder for a short time, Madan scored his first big break with the film Aankhen in 1950. His next film was Adaa. This film saw the beginning of a long partnership with Lata Mangeshkar. She did sing for him in majority of his future films. His pairing with Lata has a special place in the history of Hindi film music. He possibly created the maximum number of unforgettables of Lata. Madan went on to score music of nearly 100 movies in a span of about 25 years.

In 1970, during the changing times, when western music was making its influence felt in Mumbai, he gave music based on ragas for ‘Dastak’ and won his only 1971 National Film Award for Best Music Direction.

Madan's favourite lyricists were Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Kaifi Azmi, and Rajinder Krishan, but Sahir Ludhianvi and Majrooh Sultanpuri also collaborated with him for a few movies. 

Lata Mangeshkar christened him Ghazal ka Shehzadaa. Even Lata admitted that she found Madan Mohan's compositions difficult to master.

Most of the top film actors of the day (who were also studio heads) had fallen into a groove with their preferred composers (e.g., Raj Kapoor had Shankar Jaikishan, Dev Anand had the Burmans, Dilip Kumar had Naushad, etc.) Hence, he often had difficulty finding assignments, with the big banners. His 1964 Filmfare Award nomination for Best Music Director for Woh Kaun Thi, generated some controversy, as in a tightly-contested race, both Madan and Shankar Jaikishan for Sangam) lost to relative newcomers Laxmikant Pyarelal, who scored music for Dosti.

Madan's constant struggles took a toll on his life, and he began drinking heavily. He died at a young age, of liver cirrhosis on 14 July 1975.

Madan's music was characterised by his immense ability to meld elements of Indian classical music into a new style of Hindi filmi song. He had a keen and sensitive ear for the nuances of Indian classical tunes, and combined them with elements of Western music such as harmonies to produce a style of music that could be appreciated by both classical music aficionados and the common person alike.

When one of the biggest music directors of that time, Naushad, heard the ghazals of Anpadh 'Aap Ki Nazaron ne Samajha', and ' hai isi mein pyar ki aabroo', he found out who the composer was, and then phoned Madan Mohan and took an appointment with him. When Naushad met Madan Mohan, Naushad said, that these two ghazals by Madan Mohan were equal to all the compositions that he ( Naushad) had ever created. This was high praise indeed from a very respected and senior music director.

Madan used Rafi, Talat, Manna Dey, and Bhupendra sing for Hoke Majboor Mujhe Usne Bulaya Hoga. This song is also the only song in which four top-rated male playback singers have put voices together in a song.

Another feat achieved by Madan Mohan was that, if you look for the top ten songs rendered by Lata, Rafi, Talat, and Manna Dey, you will find that at least 2 and as many as 6-7 of them were composed by Madan Mohan.

The most enduring song of Madan Mohan, in my mind will always remain ‘Rasm-e-Ulfat’.

To listen to song played on Accordian by Shirish Purohit click the link below

"कभी ना कभी कहीं ना कहीं "

 

Shirish Purohit